keister

Definition

The anus or buttocks.

Etymology

Uncertain. Originally attested as a criminal cant word for "burglar's tool-box" in 1881. In the 20th century a clutch of criminal slang meanings are mentioned, including "safe, strongbox". "Tripe and keister" had been the phrase for a conman's or a pitchman's display case on a tripod. A likely origin is the word Kiste, which means a box or case, in both German and Yiddish.

Example Sentences

• "― " […] The four hundred's yours to take a keister for me. Any cash you find in the box is yours." ― "Four hundred, huh? Don't seem like much. Think there'd be anything in the keister?""
• "Tripods, keister and loud talk don't make a pitchman any more than do fine feathers make fine birds."
• "Sometimes Mama was too busy to make the daily rounds of the draws and pockets, in which case she gave us the keister — an old leather satchel used, in its better days to carry the baby's "didies" in — and sent us to bring in the eggs."